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A medispa is a business that offers beauty treatments, including hair removal, wrinkle-smoothing injections, such as fillers and Botox, and skin renewal procedures from chemical peels to microdermabrasion. Your doctor’s office may have a medispa on the premises, but so could your local mall or beauty salon.

And there’s the rub, according to the American Society for Aesthestic Plastic Surgery: Not all medispas are created equal. If they are not physician-directed, then no outside agency has established national standards for these medispas to follow. Government regulations also vary widely within states.

Don’t walk into a medispa blind. There are criteria you should look for to be sure the treatments you’ll be receiving are safe.

What to Expect at Medispas

When a physician runs it, a medical spa is a medical practice, just like your doctor’s office, says Monica Gavin, MD, owner and medical director of Azani Medical Spa in Bethlehem, PA. But a typical doctor’s office is usually a sterile environment and the doctors tend to be rushed for time and may not have time to discuss your esthetic concerns.

A medispa, on the other hand, has a high level of customer service and a level of luxury, Gavin says. It’s like going to a day spa, but for medical treatments. Your first visit will be a consultation during which you’ll review your complete medical history with a physician, including any chronic medical problems you may have, allergies, and details about your lifestyle.

At Gavin’s medispa, her patients talk about their personal goals and she makes recommendations on how to achieve them. Her staff includes nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and aestheticians.

A medispa won’t take insurance, but Gavin says that the treatments medispas offer aren’t usually covered by insurance anyway.

Which Medispa Treatments Are Safe?

Gavin’s medispa offers a variety of procedures that concentrate on aesthetics, along with medical wellness such as weight management, neutraceutical supplementation, genetic testing, and even stem cell collection. However, most medispas focus on aesthetics only.

The key is to go to a medispa where a physician determines your treatment plan and oversees the way it’s carried out, says Faramarz Samie, MD, PhD, a dermatologist at Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia.

Recommended Only Under a Doctor's Care

While procedures like microdermabrasion are relatively benign with a low potential to damage your skin, other procedures are more complicated and take more skill. For example, laser treatment has risks and side effects, including scarring and uneven skin tone, says Dr. Samie. Because of the potential for damaging your skin, he recommends going to a trained doctor to get any type of laser treatment. Procedures that use lasers include:

An experienced doctor will tell you if you are a good candidate for the laser treatment you’re considering. While laser hair removal is fine for many people, it shouldn’t be used on someone with darkly pigmented skin, Samie says. “Laser isn’t something I would [have done] at a medical spa by an aesthetician,” he adds.

Of course, if the practice is a true medical spa, there should be a physician trained to perform laser treatments. If you’re considering getting such a treatment at a medispa, be sure to meet the doctor who will be doing the procedure and ask about his or her training.

Once you’ve done your research on the medispa and you know a doctor is overseeing your skin care, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

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